FollowSome common myths and misconceptions in the world of ERP are hard to kill, particularly when competitors and pundits just won’t let them die. Among these common myths is the perception that SAP is just for the big guys. Yes, the SAP Business Suite and even some predecessors to the Suite are installed in a large percentage of the Fortune 500. And yes, some of them cost millions of dollars and took many years to implement. Of course there are some horror stories, but I would argue those exist for any major ERP vendor.
I have to admit, during my 30+ years of working for software companies (but never for SAP), I might have encouraged some of those misconceptions, just as SAP’s competitors do today. But now, as a recovering software executive turned data junkie, I tend to look beyond the rumors and misperceptions. I go for the facts. Here are a few that are hard to argue with:
- SAP has about 263,000 customers
- 80% of them fall in the small to mid-size (SME) bracket. Do the math. The answer is 210,400.
- SAP does not sell just one product. There is the Business Suite, but also SAP Business One and SAP Business ByDesign (no it is not dead or dying). SAP Business All-in-One is the Business Suite repackaged, by industry, for medium size businesses. You might choose to call it a different product or not, but it really matters little. Repackaged with best practices included, it makes the Business Suite more attractive to smaller (but not too small) companies.
- SAP Business One, which addresses the lower end of the SME market, is installed in over 45,000 small businesses.
- SAP’s ecosystem of partners that support small to mid-size businesses is 700 strong and growing.
I am sure one of SAP’s goals for this year’s annual SAP SME Summit was (once again) to help dispel these myths and misconceptions. I am equally sure that SAP understands it will take more than just bringing together customers, press and analysts in its hip New York City office to counter these perceptions. Instead, it seems to be effectively leveraging its extensive resources in order to help small and medium size businesses. Here are a few of different actions it has taken recently:
- SAP HANA 9 can now be run on less expensive hardware
- Powerful data visualization tools are available with a copy of SAP Lumira, free to any SAP customer
- Fiori apps, providing an intuitive and modern new user experience, are now included for free (with paid maintenance) with SAP Business All-in-One
- A 0% financing program, designed specifically for small businesses, as well as SAP’s partners that sell directly to them. This is a “buy now, pay later” option that gives the small business free financing for 24 months, while the partner gets paid within 5 days.
- A free connection to the Ariba Network, which connects over 1.6 million companies in 190 countries, allows the small business to list its products. Although the free version does not allow bidding and purchase from the site, this is an effective way for small businesses to reach a large potential group of buyers.
It takes a large company with deep pockets and extensive resources to be able to make these kinds of offers to SMEs. Yes SAP continues to be the 800-pound gorilla in the ERP space but that doesn’t mean it can leverage the “power of big” to the benefit of the little guy.
